Fruit Leather

“Ken, or anyone else who has made fruit leather:
Do you add anything to the fruit puree--like sugar or anything?
I make freezer jams and I have a whole bunch of strawberry and raspberry left from last year. I have another bumper (or is that bunker?) crop of strawberries again and I was wondering if I can take last years jam and make fruit leather out of it?
Or should I just keep it to use and make fruit leather out of the fresh berries?”

“I add honey. If I don't it ends up being too sour (flavor is too concentrated, alost overpowering) for my taste. Kid's like it either way, though, so this is prolly just personal preference.”

“Honey sounds good. I have never made fruit leather yet. Do you have to have a dehydrator or could I dry it in my oven? I have a gas oven and it is about 80 degrees with just the pilot light on. Would you spread the puree on waxed paper? Or if I used parchment paper or foil would I need to oil it?”

“Muktuk, the April issue of The Backpacker Magazine has an article about drying fruits & vegetable. This is what they said about fruit leathers:

Evenly spread 1/4-1/2" thick pureed fresh fruit onto the plastic dehydrator tray insert for making leathers or a tray lined with freezer, wax or parchment paper. Then, dry for 8-16 hrs until it can be peeled off as fruit leather.

Blend apples, cranberries, and oranges, or stir in a handful of almonds and a dash of nutmeg into an appricot puree. Or use applesauce from a jar, it now comes in watermelon, berry and peach mango flavors.

Fruits and vegetables dry best between 120 degrees and 140 degrees. When done, fruit feels more leathery than sticky and vegetables are brittle. Use very fresh fruits & vegetables. Fruits & vegetables last about a year.

Dehydrator suggestions: Look for models with an adjustable thermostat and fan. these typically cost $120-$300, wow.”

“Thanks LH!
I copied that and saved it. I will try to make some tomorrow with the fresh strawberries berries.”

“MukTuk, you're welcome. Unfortunately, the article didn't elaborate on different recipes for adding sugar or honey. I think it would be best to get exact recipes from the tters here, because you don't want to make a big batch to find that it is a screwed up mess, lol.

Dehydrating looks like a lot of fun. I'm not ready to spend the big bucks yet :{}”

“I would add something to sweeten it. I agree with wanderer, homemade leather has a wang to it.”

“I leave it tangy. Mango blueberry is very tasty. I don?t have a dehydrator, so I use the oven. Puree the fruit and pour onto parchment paper on a cookie sheet (in case you don?t know, parchment paper is like waxed paper without the wax. You get it in the baking section of the grocery store, or a cooking specialty store). Prop open oven door a crack with an oven mitt and put the oven on low. It takes a few hours. Then I sprinkle some wheat germ or flaky wheat stuff that comes from the health food store on the top and roll it up. Store in refrigerator.”

“Fruit combos make a variety of yumblilicious flavors possible. Be creative! Try tart rhubarb with sweet strawberries. Try pears with arpicots. And bananas with straberries.

Yogurt adds interest to fruit leather. Try blending 6 cups of berries with 8 oz. of plain or flavored yogurt and 2 Tbl. of sugar for flavoring.

Add toppings such as coconut, slivered almonds or chopped filbers before the leather is dry.

Puree the fruit in a blender until it is smooth.

Pour 1 1/2 to 2 cups of puree onto parchment paper or plastic wrap covered trays of dehydrator. Since the edges tend to dry more rapidly, the poured puree should be 1/8" thick at the center and 1/4" thick at the edges. Place in the dehydrator with temperature set at 135. Average drying time for leathers is 4 to 6 hours.

When the leather has dried, it will be a bit shiny and non-sticky to the touch. Allow the leather to cool and peel it from the tray. Roll it into a cylindrical shape. A piece of plastic wrap, measured to fit the length and width, can then be tightly wrapped around the leather. Fruit leather is YUMBLILICIOUS!”

“good tips; I would only add that when you start I'd suggest that you keep a little journal of what you dried, how long it took, and notes on what you thought of that batch. Have fun, experiment. You can always bring the excess stuff from the experiments to share with your co-workers and look like a hero.”

“...assuming, of course, that it wan't a totally failed experiment that you are sharing.”

“Another tip for yogurt. Drop teaspoonfuls of flavored yogurt onto a tray and dry them into tart drops. Yogurt is a milk product, but its acidity makes it safe for home drying.”

“also you can dry pumkin pie filling. really good out there. and fruit from baby food is really good too but just a little expensive.”

“As others have mentioned, experiment & keep track of what quantities of which ingredients you add etc., but don't become overly cautious. I've never yet dehydrated anything that I wouldn't eat... some batches are better than oters, but all are good! My family has come to expect "I wonder what THIS batch of Dad's jerky (fruit leather, et al) will taste like!”

“I made leather last year out of wild blueberries that I picked.”

“Bras and underwear for vegans.

Meat eaters wear leather.”

“Thank you all for the really good suggestions! I never did have time to try the strawberry today so it will have to wait until tomorrow.

Snackboy--the rhubarb sounds good too and I have some in my garden. Would you just puree it raw with strawberries?

Mel! Are you a vegan?!
I thought you said Pagan! You get the prize for making me laugh today!

How about llama wool bras and underwear?”

“Oh yeah, Snackboy--do the bananas turn brown? I was thinking maybe I should add lemon juice or fruit fresh to it.”

“mmmmmmmmmmmm all this is making me hungry.. i think my mom has a dehydrater kicking around..”

“Damn! I thought this thread was about those tight leather pants the boys in West Hollywood wear!

8-)”

“Mukky-mukky,

The bananas don't turn brown but what if they did? They're still yumblilicious!

Because of its tartness, rhubarb is usually eaten cooked, with sugar added for sweetness.
Before using, leaves should be removed and rhubarb rinsed well. It can then be sliced in cross-wise pieces and cooked for individual recipes such as mixed fruit compotes or pies. Cooked rhubarb can be sweetened and topped with cream for breakfast; it can be spooned over ice cream or cake for a good dessert treat.
When cooking with rhubarb, it should be covered with water and cooked until soft. It can then be sweetened if desired.
Rhubarb can be used in combination with strawberries for a yumbly jam.
When canning rhubarb it should be cut into one-half inch lengths, adding one-half cup sugar to each quart and allowed to stand for three to four hours to draw out juice. It can then be brought to a boil, packed into jars with hot juice and processed in a water bath.”

“Well, Y'all--I made my strawberry leather. I used waxed paper. It is totally laminated to the paper! What did I do wrong? It was about 2 quarts of strawberry puree so I am thinking about eating it anyway--wax paper and ALL! Hmmmmm... I like tangy, as you were all talking about, so I added a can of raspberry-apple frozen fruit juice concentrate (instead of any sweeteners. I can't figure out why this would make it stick though, after all this is pure fruit juice...maybe it thinned it too much? Next time I will try the microwavable plastic wrap...surely it won't stick to that!”

“You guys gotta stop pickin' on homosexuals!”

“Why, Tom Terrific?”

“My dehydrator comes with plastic trays - the ones without holes - the leathers come up with those. Used waxed paper once and the same thing happened (veg chili).”

“Muktuk - Don't know if you used an oven or a dehydrator. If you used a dehydrator, try plastic wrap. I've found that even when I dehydrate sliced fruit, I have to turn it all over after the first hour or so, and then turn it all back over after another hour. I think the concentrated sugar causes it to stick to the trays if I don't do that. I realize you can't turn fruit leather, but I've never had any problem peeling it off plastic wrap or the plastic inserts that came with my unit.”

“Ditto on the Sahran Wrap.”

“INteresting, I've never had that problem before. I use a dehydrator & use the plastic trays supplied. However I always spray PAM or similar product on the trays beforehand just to be sure...”

“I wonder if you could make boots with fruit leather. Is that what vegans would wear?”

“Deathmarch- Vegans and homosexuals.”

“i made strawberry-rhubarb leather yesterday, it turned out really good. i added about 1/2 cup of honey.
yum!”

“Did you say Vegans and homosexuals should be sent on a deathmarch?”

“Rob Halford?”

“Ohhh, What a tangled web we weave....LOL”

“Yeah, nightvision, everyone should have FUN hiking up the mountains.”